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Dave Strader
Dave Strader (February 24, 1955 – October 1, 2017) is an American sportscaster. He is currently the TV play-by-play announcer for the NHL Dallas Stars replacing Ralph Strangis. Until the 2015 Stanley Cup playoffs, he was the #2 play-by-play (behind Mike Emrick) for NHL on NBC and NHL on NBC Sports Network, formerly Versus. Also, from 1997-2004 and again from 2006-2015 he broadcast the Stanley Cup Finals in English on the NHL's international feed. While hockey has been his primary focus, he has also called college basketball, WNBA, and NBDL games. Biography A native of Glens Falls, New York, Strader honed his broadcasting skills in the college radio station WMUA 91.1 while studying for his Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Broadcasting career Local work Strader's professional broadcasting career began as the radio announcer and public relations director for the Adirondack Red Wings of the AHL from 1979–1985. A two-time New York State Broadcasters Association honoree, Strader was named the AHL's top public relations professional in 1984. In 1985, the NHL's Detroit Red Wings called Strader up from the farm club and he took over the play-by-play duties, calling TV games on both WKBD and PASS Sports alongside [[Mickey Redmond|'Mickey Redmond']] until 1996. Strader called games for the Florida Panthers for the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons when not calling games for NBC or Versus. Strader was hired by the Phoenix Coyotes on July 2, 2007. He was reunited with his former ESPN and ABC partner, Darren Pang, for Coyotes broadcasts for 2 seasons. With no television contract in place for Coyotes games, Pang left in 2009 to join the Blues. Strader was joined in the broadcast booth by former NHL player Tyson Nash. In July 2011, Strader left his position withPhoenix Coyotes to accept a full-time job with NBC/Versus. He joined the NHL Dallas Stars as their TV play-by-play voice at the start of the 2015–16 NHL season. National work Following the death of longtime ESPN broadcaster Tom Mees in 1996, ESPN hired him to take the vacant play-by-play spot on National Hockey Night broadcasts. Strader was usually paired with [[Darren Pang|'Darren Pang']] on ESPN's #2 hockey broadcast team, later with Brian Engblom on ESPN's #3 hockey broadcast team. When ABC got the NHL broadcast network contract in 2000, Strader worked for them as well. He also called NHL games for FOX in the mid-1990s. Strader also provided hockey play-by-play for NBC's coverage of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. He moved to NBC and Versus when they got the contracts in 2005. Strader served as a last-minute play-by-play replacement for Mike Emrick on NBC's coverage of the NHL Winter Classic between the Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Blackhawks on January 1, 2009 when Emrick was unable to broadcast the game due to laryngitis. Strader also called the 2011 NHL Heritage Classic on Versus, where the Montreal Canadiens played the Calgary Flames in McMahon Stadium in Calgary, Alberta. In 2012, Strader covered the Battle 4 Atlantis men's college basketball preseason tournament on the NBC Sports Network alongside Donny Marshall. Death Strader died on October 1, 2017, at the age of 62 after his battle with cholangiocarcinoma.